1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to face shields, and more specifically to the welding face shields which have an eye protection lens holder in front of the eyes which is hinged and can be opened and closed by hand, while the welding face shield remains in place in front of the face. The invention is a triggering device to close the hinged lens holder using a movement of the chin to activate it.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Welding hoods are a face and eye protection shield. When in place in front of the face, they have a visual opening in front of the eyes. This opening has a lens holder, into which lenses of various shades and combinations are inserted and held in place. This lens holder is hinged on the welding hood so it can be opened and closed by hand while the welding hood remains in place. This is very advantageous as a worker may stop welding and open the hinged lens holder to inspect, chip hot slag, brush, grind, and do any number of work operations without having to remove or lift the welding hood. Also, when the hinged lens holder is open, it is customary to have a clear safety lens which remains stationary in the welding hood to protect the eyes and face during the above mentioned work operations. Thus, a welding hood with a hinged lens holder becomes a dual face and eye shield. When the hinged lens holder contains dark welding lens and is closed, it serves as a welding hood. When the hinged lens holder is open and the stationary, clear safety lens remain in place. It serves as a clear face and eye shield. The problems have been the physically removing of a hand from the work to close the hinged lens holder. Welding is a very exacting art and one hand is usually holding a tool such as an electrode and the other hand is usually in full use such as holding a work piece in place or a worker might be on a structure such as a building and using the other hand to hold on and balance. Now, when the worker is all ready to begin welding, one hand must leave the work and go up and close the hinged lens holder, then in total darkness, try to move the hand back to its position and what it was doing and also keep balance, then the worker can begin welding and see the weld by the filtered light from it. It is during this brief period of total darkness, that is repeated many times during the welding process, that balance and position are compromised, resulting in mistakes, lower quality work and it is unsafe. It is highly desirable to have the full time use of both hands. The invention allows this by using the chin and a triggering device to close the hinged lens holder instead of using a hand to close the hinged lens holder.